


A Twist of Fate

by Harleydoll



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Calm Down Erik, Charles Has Issues, F/M, I don't knnow what other tags to use tbh, M/M, Raven is Erik's sister instead, What-If, just to see what happens, trading places
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 02:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7295401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harleydoll/pseuds/Harleydoll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Raven was in Poland with Erik instead of in Westchester with Charles. Basically following the plot of XMFC, with some minor (and major) changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Twist of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> I've been holding onto this one because I didn't know what to title it. I still don't know what to call it but here we are. Anyway, I'd love to know what you think!

**Poland, 1944**

The soldiers shove their way into the mob, separating men from women, children from adults, herding them in opposite directions to form smaller organized groups. Erik clings desperately to his parents, their screams drowned out by those of other families doing the same as they are wrenched apart and dragged out of each others’ reach. Erik is grabbed by two soldiers, who take him by the arms and carried, his feet barely touching the ground, towards the back of a thick column of children headed for the barbed wire gates at the end of the road. 

The gate clangs shut behind him and Erik looks back to see his parents, along with countless others, being restrained by more soldiers. The screaming is deafening now, and Erik’s screams can be heard above them all. His outstretched fingers claw at the air and the soldiers are having trouble keeping a hold on him and he struggles, wet and slippery from the pouring rain, to escape their grasp. There is a groaning, creaking sound behind them, and the soldiers look up to see the fence twisting and bowing down towards them, barbed wires snapping and giving way as Erik continues to scream, both hands now thrust out as though beckoning the metal to him. 

Finally, one of the soldiers brandishes a pistol and brains him violently, and Erik slumps to the ground, unconscious. The soldiers glance first at each other, then back at the fence, before picking him up and hauling him away to follow the rest of the children, now far ahead of them.

~

Erik wakes to a low whimpering in his ear and cold stone against his back. He’s slumped on the floor, while a girl a few years younger than him practically crawls into his lap to escape the soldier blocking the doorway. The German searches the faces of thirty or so cramped and terrified children until his impassive glare falls on Erik. The girl in Erik’s lap scrambles out of the way as the soldier approaches, grabs Erik roughly by the arm, and drags him out of the room. 

The door clangs shut behind them and another soldier moves forward to lock it as Erik stumbles in his captor’s grip down the dark corridor. His first reaction is to fight, but his feeble, disoriented flailing only causes the soldier to tighten his hold and push him further down the hallway. Erik swears in German, earning a flicker of amusement from the soldier before they enter what looks like another stone cell. Its only occupants, however, are two wooden coffins and a few scattered crates. 

The soldier lets go of Erik to lock the door behind them, and Erik is suddenly very afraid. He has heard rumours of the things the soldiers do to the children at night, but up until now he has never believed that he could be a victim of such horrific practices. He shrinks against the adjacent wall, using a crate almost as tall as him to create a barrier between them. The soldier turns and almost looks guilty at the obvious fear in Erik’s eyes peeking over the edge of the crate. He offers a small smile and his uniform seems to ripple, overturning and reforming to reveal a young girl, her vibrant blue skin and red hair a stark contrast to the dank gloom of the cell. She’s barely as tall as Erik’s shoulder when she pads over to him, sidestepping the crate to meet his shocked stare. 

“Pretty good, huh?” she says in German. “I even fooled you that time.”

Stunned, Erik only nods and pulls her into a hug. “You shouldn’t be here, Raven. It isn’t safe.”

It’s not safe anywhere, Erik,” Raven replies. She pulls away and gestures to the coffins. “These two soldiers are being shipped to their families in Lithuania. From there you can find  
passage to America, where you will be safe.” She pries open the lid to one of the coffins, revealing the uniformed corpse inside.  
“What about my parents? Mama?” Erik asks. “They will die here without me.” 

“And they will die here with you,” Raven retorts. “Schmidt’s already got your mother, and he’s going to use her to get to you. With you gone, maybe I can keep her alive. Now get in.” 

Erik complies, and Raven places a soft kiss on his forehead before lowering the lid. “Who is this Schmidt? What does he want with me?” 

“He saw what you did to the gates. I think he wants to use you as a weapon,” Raven says. “But he can’t if you disappear, do you see?” 

Erik nods and curls up against the legs of the corpse, stifling a shudder at the stench of decay barely hidden beneath some odd mixture of perfumes and his own unwashed odor. 

“Take care of them,” he whispers.

“We’ll meet you in America,” Raven says, unable to hide the slight tremor in her voice. “And we’ll be a family again, you and me and your parents.” 

“Promise?” 

“I promise.” 

She closes the lid of the coffin and he listens to Raven secure the clasps before padding away, her steps becoming heavier as she shifts back into what Erik assumes is the form of the soldier she entered as before unbolting the door and exiting the room. The door slams shut behind her, leaving Erik alone and painfully aware of the aching silence, and of the rotting corpse that has become his only companion. 

~

In retrospect, Raven has no idea what possessed her to do it. Maybe she realized that if Schmidt didn’t have Erik, he would hunt him down, and that even America wasn’t safe anymore. Or maybe, she thinks, she just wanted to see her friend’s face one more time, even if it was only in the mirror. Either way, that doesn’t change the fact that she’s here, now, standing before a man who believes that she can move metal using only her mind, and is trying to use chocolate, of all things, to gain her trust. 

Raven tries again to move the coin on the desk, but she already knows it is useless. She drops her hands and apologizes, and Schmidt shakes his head in disappointment. Maybe that is the end of it, she thinks, and then he rings a little bell, summoning two soldiers into the office. Raven turns, expecting to be taken back to her cell, and gasps in surprise. The soldiers are gripping Erik’s mother between them, and when she spots Raven, Edie Lehnsherr offers a tired but reassuring smile. Raven concentrates and shifts one eye from Erik’s blue-green to her own cats-eye yellow, and Edie nods slightly; they understand each other. Raven blinks and the yellow is gone when she faces Schmidt again, who is now pointing a pistol straight at Edie. 

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he says. “I’m going to count to three, and you’re going to move the coin.” 

Raven freezes. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She thrusts her hands forward and wills the coin to move, hoping against hope that it will somehow do her bidding. 

“One.” 

She grits her teeth and focuses on the coin. She can hear Edie’s voice behind her, telling her it’s going to be okay, and the lie only makes her try harder. 

“Two.” 

Raven glances back at Edie, who nods and whispers those reassuring words again, _alleste ist gut_ , and she hears them in the back of her mind like a mantra. 

“Three.” The gunshot echoes too loudly in the tiny room and Edie falls to the floor with a sickening thump. Raven’s breath catches in her throat. She’s failed. Erik’s mother is dead, and so is her husband, most likely. They’ll never be a family again, like she promised. Her hands fall to her sides and her legs give way beneath her, and then she’s on her knees, her own blue scaled knees, and Schmidt is leaning over his desk to stare at her naked form. 

“Well,” he says, moving around the desk to get a better look at her. “I certainly was not expecting that.” 

~

**Westchester, New York**

There is someone in the house. Charles is certain of this fact even before he shrugs his navy blue dressing gown over his striped pajamas, grabs the baseball bat from underneath his bed, and sneaks silently down the stairs to the kitchen. The door is half open and Charles peers inside, watching as a boy, not much older than Charles, bites into a large green apple, crunching quietly as he continues to search the cupboards for food. 

Charles puts the bat down in the doorway and enters the room, deliberately stepping on that one creaking floorboard by the fridge. The boy jumps and drops the apple, which bounces and rolls past Charles’ stocking feet. He stares at Charles with a mixture of shame and anger at being caught, and Charles holds up his hands in mock surrender. 

“It’s all right, Erik,” Charles says, picking up the apple and offering it to him. “You’re welcome to take whatever you like, we’ve got plenty of food.”

Erik ignores the apple, glaring instead at the door behind Charles. It slams shut as though on command, and Charles hears a clicking noise that signifies it’s been locked as well. “How do you know my name?” he demands. His English is halted and overlaid with a German accent. “You…Schmidt sent you?” There is a clanking sound from inside the drawers and cupboards, and Charles realizes suddenly that it’s all metal, pots, pans, and cutlery all trembling in time with Erik’s fear and increasing rage. 

_This is how._ Charles places the apple on the counter as he brushes against Erik’s mind, sending waves of calm and safe until the metal around them relaxes into a quiet hum before going completely still. Erik unclenches his fists and looks at Charles with wonder and confusion. “What…else do you know about me?” 

Before he can stop himself, Charles dives into Erik’s memories, flashes of a sparse but cozy home and loving parents shattering into fragments of pouring rain, broken families, and cold, crowded cells just like the one Erik was rescued from by…Raven. Beautiful, brave, mysterious Raven. Charles watches in awe as she shifts easily from one form to another and then he feels a hard shove, sending him staggering backwards and out into the rain again, watching as thousands of men, women and children are segregated and sent to their tiny shared prison cells, and eventually their deaths. 

Charles blinks and he’s back in the present, gasping for air and apologizing over and over again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—I mean, I’m still trying to control it and sometimes I can’t stop…” he trails off when he notices Erik’s eyes are fixed firmly on the tiled floor, his entire body shaking as he attempts to hold back tears.  
“It’s going to be alright,” Charles says softly, placing a tentative hand on Erik’s shoulder. “You can stay here with me, and you’ll never be cold or hungry or alone again. I promise.” 

Erik stiffens at these last words, and Charles is suddenly afraid that he’s said something wrong, but then he tilts his chin up ever so slightly and looks Charles right in the eyes. 

“I think…yes. Thank you.” He tries for a smile and produces a sad little grimace that Charles, for some reason, finds incredibly endearing. 

Charles grins back and takes Erik’s hand in his. “Come on, then,” he says. “I’m sure I’ve got some pajamas that will fit you.”


End file.
